MR PALEO

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Thursday, March 27, 2014

THE WAY IT SHOULD BE...

Or, WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT, MR. PALEO, part three...

So... what would my choice be ???

That's a "no-brainer", in my book. Treat the animals with dignity and respect, let them live life free of our indignities... Since we ARE omnivores, and meat IS a part of our diet, this is the least we can do... Buy local, from someone you know who treats their animals with respect... it is worth a few dollars more, isn't it ???

An abundance of labels on meat and dairy products make such claims as "grass fed," "cage free" and "natural." What exactly do these labels mean, especially in terms of animal welfare?

Some of the claims represent better conditions for animals than those suffered by the billions who are raised on standard factory farms, while others don't relate to the animals' welfare at all. So, how meaningful are these labels?

The following are the most common labels, decoded.

Certified Organic

The animals must be allowed outdoor access, with ruminants—cows, sheep and goats—given access to pasture, but the amount, duration and quality of outdoor access is undefined. Animals must be provided with bedding materials. Though the use of hormones and antibiotics is prohibited, painful surgical procedures without any pain relief are permitted. These are requirements under the National Organic Program regulations, and compliance is verified through third-party auditing.

Free-Range Chickens and Turkeys

The birds should have outdoor access. However, no information on stocking density, the frequency or duration of how much outdoor access must be provided, nor the quality of the land accessible to the animals is defined. Painful surgical procedures without any pain relief are permitted. Producers must submit affidavits to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that support their animal production claims in order to receive approval for this label.

Grass-Fed

Ruminant animals are fed a diet solely comprised of grass and forage, with the exception of milk consumed before they are weaned. These animals have access to the outdoors and are able to engage in some natural behaviors, such as grazing. They must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season (defined as "the time period extending from the average date of the last frost in spring to the average date of the first frost in the fall in the local area of production"). Painful surgical procedures without any pain relief are permitted. Producers must submit affidavits to the USDA that support their animal production claims in order to receive approval for this label.

5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Program

Animals are raised according to different levels of welfare standards, from Step 1 to Step 5+. In essence, Step 1 prohibits cages and crates. Step 2 requires environmental enrichment for indoor production systems; Step 3, outdoor access; Step 4, pasture-based production; Step 5, an animal-centered approach with all physical alterations prohibited; and, finally, Step 5+, the entire life of the animal spent on the same integrated farm, with all transport disallowed. Hormone and subtherapeutic antibiotic use is prohibited. The 5-Step program is audited and certified by independent third-parties. The 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Program is the initiative of Global Animal Partnership.

Animal Welfare Approved

The animals have access to the outdoors and are able to engage in natural behavior. No cages or crates may be used to confine the animals, and growth hormones and subtherapeutic antibiotics are disallowed. Some surgical mutilations, such as beak-mutilation of egg-laying hens, are prohibited, while others, such as castration without painkiller, are permitted. Compliance is verified through auditing by the labeling program. Animal Welfare Approvedis a program of the Animal Welfare Institute.

Certified Humane

The animals must be kept in conditions that allow for exercise and freedom of movement. As such, crates, cages and tethers are prohibited. Outdoor access is not required for poultry or pigs, but is required for other species. Stocking densities are specified to prevent the overcrowding of animals. All animals must be provided with bedding materials. Hormone and non-therapeutic antibiotic use is prohibited. Pain relief must be used for physical alterations (castration and disbudding) for cattle. For other mammals, anesthesia and analgesia must be used over 7 days of age, but not earlier. Poultry may have parts of their beaks removed without painkiller, though not after 10 days of age. The program also covers slaughter methods. Compliance is verified through auditing by the labeling program. Certified Humane is a program of Humane Farm Animal Care.

No Tail Docking

In the United States, some dairy cows have up to two-thirds of their tails amputated without anesthetic, usually by using tight rubber bands to restrict blood flow until the tail detaches, or is cut off with a sharp instrument. This is painful and renders the cows less able to fend off flies. Some dairy producerslabel their milk specifically as “no tail docking” to let consumers know their cows have full tails.

Hormone-Free, rBGH-Free, rBST-Free and No Hormones Added

These labels on dairy products mean the cows were not dosed with rBGH or rBST, genetically engineered hormones that increase milk production. Hormones are commonly used to speed growth in beef production, and their use by both the beef and dairy industries are associated with animal welfare problems. Chicken and pig producers are not legally allowed to use hormones. These claims do not have significant relevance to the animals' living conditions. Painful surgical procedures without any pain relief are permitted. There may be some verification of this claim, but not necessarily.

Cage-Free

Unlike birds raised for eggs, those raised for meat are rarely caged prior to transport. As such, this label on poultry products has virtually no relevance to animal welfare. However, the label is helpful when found on egg cartons, as most egg-laying hens are kept in severely restrictive cages prohibiting most natural behavior, including spreading their wings.

Vegetarian-Fed

These animals may be given a more natural feed than that received by most factory-farmed animals, but this claim does not have significant relevance to the animals' living conditions.

Dolphin-Safe

In the United States, a Dolphin Safe labelon a can of tuna means that no dolphins were intentionally chased, encircled, traumatized, injured or killed in order to catch tuna swimming beneath the dolphins. Due to pressure from other countries, the U.S. government has made multiple attempts to weaken the rules and allow the use of the label even if the tuna were caught by deliberately setting nets on dolphins. The HSUS and others have won a series of lawsuits to maintain the integrity of the label, so a Dolphin Safe label in the United States still means that the tuna were not caught using methods that harm dolphins.

Natural and Naturally Raised

These claims have no relevance to animal welfare.

Grain-Fed

This claim has little relevance to animal welfare, but feeding ruminants—cows, sheep and goats—high levels of grain can cause liver abscesses and problems with lameness. As such, beef products labeled "grain-fed" most likely come from animals who suffered lower welfare than beef products labeled "grass-fed."

I have excerpted this DIRECTLY from the official Humane Society website...

The truth is that the majority of egg labels have little relevance to animal welfare or, if they do, they have no official standards or any mechanism to enforce them.

The Labels†

Certified Organic

The birds are uncaged inside barns, and are required to have outdoor access, but the amount, duration, and quality of outdoor access is undefined. They are fed an organic, all-vegetarian diet free of antibiotics and pesticides, as required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. Compliance is verified through third-party auditing.

Free-Range

While the USDA has defined the meaning of "free-range" for some poultry products, there are no standards in "free-range" egg production. Typically, free-range hens are uncaged inside barns and have some degree of outdoor access, but there are no requirements for the amount, duration or quality of outdoor access. Since they are not caged, they can engage in many natural behaviors such as nesting and foraging. There are no restrictions regarding what the birds can be fed. Beak cutting and forced molting through starvation are permitted. There is no third-party auditing.

Certified Humane

The birds are uncaged inside barns but may be kept indoors at all times. They must be able to perform natural behaviors such as nesting, perching, and dust bathing. There are requirements for stocking density and number of perches and nesting boxes. Forced molting through starvation is prohibited, but beak cutting is allowed. Compliance is verified through third-party auditing. Certified Humane is a program of Humane Farm Animal Care.

Animal Welfare Approved

The highest animal welfare standards of any third-party auditing program. The birds are cage-free and continuous outdoor perching access is required. They must be able to perform natural behaviors such as nesting, perching and dust bathing. There are requirements for stocking density, perching, space and nesting boxes. Birds must be allowed to molt naturally. Beak cutting is prohibited. Animal Welfare Approved is a program of the Animal Welfare Institute.

American Humane Certified

This label allows both cage confinement and cage-free systems. Each animal who is confined in these so-called "furnished cages" has about the space of a legal-sized sheet of paper. An abundance of scientific evidence demonstrates that these cages are detrimental to animal welfare, and they are opposed by nearly every major US and EU animal welfare group. Forced molting through starvation is prohibited, but beak cutting is allowed. Compliance is verified through third-party auditing. American Humane Certified is a program of American Humane Association.

Cage-Free

As the term implies, hens laying eggs labeled as "cage-free" are uncaged inside barns, but they generally do not have access to the outdoors. They can engage in many of their natural behaviors such as walking, nesting and spreading their wings. Beak cutting is permitted. There is no third-party auditing.

Free-Roaming

Also known as "free-range," the USDA has defined this claim for some poultry products, but there are no standards in "free-roaming" egg production. This essentially means the hens are cage-free. There is no third-party auditing.

Food Alliance Certified

The birds are cage-free and access to outdoors or natural daylight is required. They must be able to perform natural behaviors such as nesting, perching and dust bathing. There are specific requirements for stocking density, perching, space and nesting boxes. Starvation-based molting is prohibited. Beak cutting is allowed. Compliance is verified through third-party auditing. Food Alliance Certified is a program of the Food Alliance.

United Egg Producers Certified

The overwhelming majority of the U.S. egg industry complies with this voluntary program, which permits routine cruel and inhumane factory farm practices. Hens laying these eggs have 67 square inches of cage space per bird, less area than a sheet of paper. The hens are confined in restrictive, barren battery cages and cannot perform many of their natural behaviors, including perching, nesting, foraging or even spreading their wings. Compliance is verified through third-party auditing. Forced molting through starvation is prohibited, but beak cutting is allowed. This is a program of the United Egg Producers.

Vegetarian-Fed

These birds' feed does not contain animal byproducts, but this label does not have significant relevance to the animals' living conditions.

Natural

This label claim has no relevance to animal welfare.

Fertile

These eggs were laid by hens who lived with roosters, meaning they most likely were not caged.

Omega-3 Enriched

This label claim has no relevance to animal welfare.

†Virtually all hens in commercial egg operations—whether cage or cage-free—come from hatcheries that kill all male chicks shortly after hatching. The males are of no use to the egg industry because they don't lay eggs and aren't bred to grow as large or as rapidly as chickens used in the meat industry. Common methods of killing male chicks include suffocation, gassing and grinding. Hundreds of millions of male chicks are killed at hatcheries each year in the United States.

But we owe a debt of gratitude to those who came before us, paving the way for the legitimacy of nutrition as a true SCIENCE, not programmed dietary nonsense from those who would have us sick and debilitated... eating cheap crap grown in contaminated human waste, buying hidden GMO's, and taking their "medicines"...

Saturday, February 22, 2014

HEAVY METAL TOXICITY...

I don't even know where to begin with this subject...

From amalgam fillings to recycled human "waste" to "organic" food grown near highways...

THERE IS NO ESCAPING EXPOSURE TO THIS NIGHTMARE... as if nuclear pollution and GMO's aren't enough to deal with... Mercury, Cadmium, Lead, et al... unseen toxic substances that cause a myriad of DEADLY serious consequences for ALL living beings... add to this mess "genetic susceptibility" and geometric toxicity, and you have a recipe for a world of tomorrow where NO ONE is immune, NO ONE is "healthy".

Thursday, January 23, 2014

I really never saw this one coming... but one of my friends started in on the same old dialogue... "It's just expensive (albeit colorful) urine..." Yeah, well... NO !!!

There are several factors to consider when considering (non-prescription) supplementation... My view is fairly simple and straightforward...

I take a dozen or so daily supplements on a regular basis, and another dozen or so, as necessary...

Why ? First of all because there is little guarantee that you are getting the "full" nutritional value from your food, for several reasons... including the lack of nutrients available in the soil (which affects both plants, AND the animals that eat them). If you are eating REAL, then processing should not be a significant factor, but elapsed time & storage need to be considered... Also, most of us don't eat the same thing at every meal, every day... so most of the vitamins, etc., aren't necessarily covered, and, I don't see a lot of people who eat the ENTIRE food, like I'll bet we used to... when I eat an apple, I eat the ENTIRE apple (the seeds of which contain a minute amount of cyanide, which intestinal parasites despise)... I've even been known to eat the peel of my "little cuties" (vit. C, bioflavonoids, d-limonene)... but I haven't mastered eating the entire bone in my steak (S, Si, K, Mg, P, etc.), or the peel of my pomegranate (PPE). I also don't crush and eat the shells of my oysters (Ca), nor do I eat dirt (microbes). Are ya kinda getting the picture ?

NOW, worst-case scenario... I actually eliminate the majority of my intake of supplements... that simply means my body did not need them, or could not utilize them at that moment... GREAT !!!

I'd rather play the odds that I am OVER-consuming nutrients, than be DEFICIENT in them....